A mountain-sized asteroid which crosses paths with the Earth every three years has been discovered by a Russian scientist.

近日，一名俄羅斯科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆山峰大小的小行星每三年都會(huì)經(jīng)過(guò)地球的運(yùn)行軌道。

Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, said the space rock, named '2014 UR116', poses no immediate threat.

莫斯科國(guó)立大學(xué)（Moscow State University）教授弗拉基米爾（Vladimir Lipunov）表示，這顆名為“2014 UR116”的太空巖石目前對(duì)地球并未造成直接威脅。

But he warned that it could hit the Earth with an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor inRussia. That object entered Earth’s atmosphere over the city ofChelyabinsk, resulting in a series of ferocious blasts that blew out windows and damaged buildings for miles around.

但是，如果這顆小行星撞擊地球，其產(chǎn)生的爆炸強(qiáng)度將會(huì)是2013年襲擊俄羅斯的那顆公交車(chē)般大小的流星的1000倍。那顆流星穿越地球大氣層，在車(chē)?yán)镅刨e斯克（Chelyabinsk）上空爆炸，火花四濺，擊破了窗戶(hù)，損壞了方圓數(shù)英里內(nèi)的建筑。

Prof Lipunov said it is difficult to calculate the orbit of big rocks like '2014 UR116' because their trajectories are constantly being changed by the gravitational pull of other planets

弗拉基米爾教授表示，像“2014 UR116”這類(lèi)大型的石塊常常會(huì)受到其他行星萬(wàn)有引力的影響，不停地改變其運(yùn)行軌跡。因此，很難計(jì)算出它們的運(yùn)行軌道。

And he warns that its existence proves how little scientists know about other asteroids which could cause harm to the planet.

他還表示，這顆小行星的存在同時(shí)也說(shuō)明，科學(xué)家對(duì)其他能對(duì)地球造成危害的行星所知甚少。

"We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences," he said.

他表示，有必要對(duì)這顆小行星的運(yùn)行軌跡進(jìn)行長(zhǎng)期的觀察，因?yàn)橛?jì)算中的一個(gè)細(xì)微的錯(cuò)誤都可能帶來(lái)嚴(yán)重后果。

Of 100,000 near-Earth objects which can cross our planet's orbit and are large enough to be dangerous, only about 11,000 have so far been tracked and cataloged.

目前，有十萬(wàn)顆大型近地星體可以穿過(guò)地球的運(yùn)行軌道并可能造成一定程度破壞。其中，能追蹤并計(jì)算出軌跡的大約只有1萬(wàn)1千顆。

However NASA warned that '2014 UR116' did not pass close enough to the Earth to be considered a threat.

然而，美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局（NASA）表示，“2014 UR116”經(jīng)過(guò)地球的運(yùn)行軌道后，與地球的距離不算太近，因此不會(huì)構(gòu)成威脅。

"While this approximately 400-meter-sized asteroid has a three-year orbital period around the sun and returns to the Earth's neighborhood periodically, it does not represent a threat because its orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth's orbit," NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office said in a statement.

美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局“近地星體”項(xiàng)目處（Near Earth Object Program Office）發(fā)表聲明稱(chēng)，這顆直徑約400米的小行星圍繞太陽(yáng)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)的軌道周期為3年，之后又會(huì)定期繞回地球附近。盡管它的運(yùn)行軌道穿過(guò)了地球的運(yùn)行軌道，但距離不近，因此不會(huì)構(gòu)成威脅。

NASA said that computer models showed that the asteroid would be an impact threat for at least 150 years.

美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局表示，據(jù)計(jì)算機(jī)模型顯示，這顆小行星至少需要150年的時(shí)間才能帶來(lái)具有沖擊性的威脅。

Systems are already in place to track large asteroids, but recent research suggests that rocks as small as 164 feet across would still be big enough to cause devastating results on Earth.

追蹤大型小行星的系統(tǒng)已經(jīng)啟用。但近期研究認(rèn)為，就算164英尺（約49.99米）大小的石塊也足以給地球造成毀滅性的傷害。

（翻譯 hyylf 編輯 Helen）